N  a  p a  l  m     H  e  a  l  t  h     S  p  a  :     R  e  p  o  r  t     2  0  0  9

 

 

INGRID SWANBERG

 

 

Cazadero

 

 

a silence whitens between us

 

for the first time

 

 

my dress is the colors of the earth

 

 

you are sarcastic and pale

 

 

the trace

 

of your chaste caress

 

burns

 

 

as my father winds up the road below.

 

 

though you think I am a child,

 

I scorn your honor

 

in secret

 

with a woman’s heart

 

 

 

 

wraparound

 

 

I saw you wince

as my skirt fell closed,

the skirt that is like scarves

and swirls with a slight heaviness

as if it had lain out all night

and gathered dew

 

that look, crossing your face

swift shadow of a bird

as my skirt so quickly wrapped around,

the hem swinging a little the other way

revealing its subtle weight

 

that look gives me courage

as I tie the waist

forever

 

as far as you know

 

 

 

threshold

 

 

it started to rain

 

having nowhere to go,

we sat in the car

in the empty parking lot

 

            rain drops strewn across the windshield

 

as you pulled the words

soft as kittens

out of the dark

 

            all the while

 

            idly balancing

            the open switchblade

            across your right hand,

 

            starlight gathering liquid there.

           

 

some people have roots here

 

you said

 

            rain drops streaming

            down the glass

 

            in each a sun

            and worlds

 

 

Mother,

 

 

I thought I was done with your black bag

the one you could never find anything in

 

now in its far recesses I find

a gold watch

I have never seen,

the black leather strap aged soft

roman numerals on a black face

hands stopped at V:XXVIII

 

dirt and patina

 

the tongue is gone

 

I cannot read the tiny brand name

 

my eyes keep returning to the hands

as if they indicate some thing

I might understand,

the second hand frozen

almost at the hour

 

now it lies across the pile of letters

on the table

strange in the afternoon

sunlight

 

it gathers the room in

 

so I put it away

upstairs

with the other things

to be gone through

later on